By Christine Miles I am a former varsity-level ice hockey player, high-performance youth coach and a seasoned leader in the corporate world, yet the support in coaching didn’t always follow. Without more women leading on the sidelines, we risk losing the perspective, mentorship, and representation that help girls stay in sport and see themselves in future leadership...Read More

November 3, 2025 Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities supports Captains & Poets to Empower 50 Youth Sport Teams Across Canada Initiative integrates emotional intelligence and leadership into sport, with a focus on keeping girls in the game. [Toronto, Ontario] — Today, Captains & Poets, with the support of Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities (Jumpstart), announces a groundbreaking...Read More

By Rob Cavicchia As a high-performance athlete and youth coach, I have witnessed firsthand that many parents don’t know how to support their children to reach their full potential. When parents understand the game beyond the sidelines, they can become a powerful force for young athletes and the team or club they are a part...Read More

By Owen Brine “You will never discover new oceans unless you have the courage to hoist your sails and set course into the unknown.” As a naval officer, nautical metaphors come naturally to me. And yet, they’ve taken on new meaning during my time as a volunteer hockey coach. Coaching, like commanding a ship, is...Read More

By Chris McCallum, Founder of Truth-Based Sports What is a Game? According to philosopher Bernard Suits (1978), the definition of a game is the common acceptance of unnecessary obstacles. This concept might sound ridiculous – why would anyone accept an inefficient path to achieve random and unnecessary outcomes? Yet, people spend extensive amounts of time...Read More

Where Captain Meets Poet: How Sport Shaped Our Inner Leaders By Ella Hupka and Nicole Bucur Over the summer, the Girls Forward Youth Advisory Council (YAC) participated in a powerful workshop led by Jennifer Johnson, founder of Captains & Poets. Through exploring the “how” and “why” behind our actions, we came to better understand our...Read More

What’s in Your Backpack? By Jennifer Johnson, B.Ed., M.A. As the new school year approaches, most of us picture the backpack filled with books and supplies. But there’s another backpack we carry every day (often unconsciously) filled with our strengths and weakness, thoughts, emotions, habits, and stories. Together, they define our learning edge for the...Read More

By Jennifer Johnson, B.Ed., M.A. You’ve heard of The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz? So, I took the time to read Don Miguel Ruiz JR.’s book The Five Levels of Attachment as I sat on the shoreline last week and what resulted was a reflection on the role of self-awareness in authenticity and how...Read More

By Sally Mancy, M.A. I envision classrooms where learners lead inquiries, present ideas with confidence, solve real-world problems, and reflect on their growth. One day, a student who once feared public speaking may proudly deliver a TED-style talk on a community issue; another, who once struggled with group work, may lead a team in designing...Read More

By Jill McPherson From an early age, I knew I wanted to work with children. I was the child who loved holding babies, the teenager who relished babysitting that parents sought out because their children requested me. I engaged with them, played with them—I was the babysitter my younger self would have wanted. I pursued...Read More